CBC hands out record-breaking raises to offset loss of executive bonuses

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OTTAWA — Just months after Canada’s national broadcaster announced the end of big-money bonuses to its senior execs, newly-obtained documents suggest the CBC handed out a record-setting amount of raises during the previous fiscal year.

In access-to-information documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the CBC handed out no bonuses in 2024-25, but awarded $37.7 million in wage hikes to 6,295 employees.

That’s an average of $6,000 per employee.

CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano described it as “sleight of hand” by the CBC.

“The CBC isn’t saving people money if it’s replacing taxpayer-funded bonuses with higher taxpayer-funded pay raises,” he said, noting the raises more than offset the cost of the eliminated bonuses.

“CBC misunderstood the assignment and learned nothing from the outrage it received across the political spectrum.”

The documents also noted that no employee saw a pay cut in the last fiscal year.

In 2023-24, previously-released documents state the national broadcaster handed out about $11.5 million in raises to 6,575 employees.

In a May 2025 post, the CBC announced that after an independent review of how they compensate non-union employees and senior executives, the Crown corporation opted to discontinue their bonus program, which the broadcaster called “individual performance pay,” to keep compensation within established norms.

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“Total compensation for CBC/Radio-Canada employees is in the middle (50th percentile) of compensation for employees in our peer group of media, private and public organizations,” the note read.

“In order to keep overall compensation at the current median level, salaries of those affected will be adjusted to reflect the elimination of individual performance pay.”

CBC spokesperson Leon Mar disputed the CTF’s interpretation of the release.

“To say that these adjustments ‘more than offset the loss of performance pay’ is incorrect, and to characterize these changes, which were made public on May 14, as a ‘sleight of hand’ is bizarre,” he said, reiterating that the raises were given to keep overall compensation at median levels to reflect the elimination of performance pay. 

In a statement previously sent to the CTF and provided to The Toronto Sun, the CBC said that because they hire people with competitive market skills, salary ranges “reflect the need to attract and retain” skilled workers.

“If Prime Minister Mark Carney is serious about saving money,  he needs to step in and put an end to the CBC gravy train,” Terrazzano said.

“Or better yet, Carney should defund the CBC.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume